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Kevin Harvick believes Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney had the cars to win the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship. On his Happy Hour podcast, the 2014 champion said they lost it with their own mistakes.
“In the end, you hear the saying, ‘Don’t beat yourself.’ They beat themselves,” Harvick said. “And I still think that they had the speed and the capability from the machines to be able to do what they did. They just didn’t execute and they didn’t make it happen when it was crunch time over the last 10 weeks.”
Bell’s Costly Moments
Harvick pointed to two moments for Bell late in the Chase.
“I still think that Bell had plenty of speed to win the championship. But you look back at Talladega and spinning out coming to Pit Road and crashing. You look back at the very next week speeding on Pit Road at Martinsville, racing, you know, up for the lead.”
Bell arrived at Talladega five points behind Kyle Larson. While leading, he spun entering pit road and hit the inside wall. A week later at Martinsville, a speeding penalty cost him track position, though he recovered to finish 10th. He finished second in the final standings, 49 points back.
Blaney’s Bad Breaks
Blaney’s title hopes slipped away in pieces. A brake rotor failure at World Wide Technology Raceway left him 35th. At Bristol, he led 202 laps and was racing for second when contact with Carson Hocevar ended his night in 33rd. He went on to win the Homestead finale and finished fourth in points, 94 back.
“It’s just, we could go through each car and come up with those moments where they were key moments in a race or just a moment during a race that just took them out of contention, and I think it was just a pile of them as you look at those moments,” Harvick said.
‘Can You Name Another Crew Chief?’
Harvick said the difference was Larson’s team, led by crew chief Cliff Daniels.
“You look at a Cliff Daniels, right? Like, they’re making things happen, and they’re making those key calls. And that five-team and even Larson, right? You didn’t see the speed and penalties. You didn’t see the mistakes on pit road,” Harvick said.
“Yes. I mean, if you’re going to beat him, you’re going to have to join him, right? You’re going to have to figure out how to have that elite level of preparation with a leader like Cliff Daniels. He’s set the bar at a totally different level of leadership.
“I mean, can you name another crew chief that has the type of leadership that Cliff does? Because I can’t name one.”
Logano’s Team Also Earned Praise
Harvick also pointed to Joey Logano‘s No. 22 team as one that usually avoids those mistakes.
“They didn’t have the speed that the Toyotas do, but usually they’re the guys that grind their way to a win or a finish because they’re not making any mistakes,” Harvick said.
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